Facile synthesis of visible-light-active BiOI modified Bi2MoO6 photocatalysts with highly enhanced photocatalytic activity

Highly efficient BiOI/Bi2MoO6 photocatalysts were successfully synthesized by a facile and economical deposition-precipitation method at lower temperature, and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The photocatalytic performance of BiOI/Bi2MoO6 was examined and evaluated by the decomposition of methyl orange (MO) and phenol under visible-light irradiation. The as-prepared BiOI/Bi2MoO6 composites exhibited much superior photocatalytic activities than pure BiOI and Bi2MoO6 in the photodegradation of the target organic pollutants. The synergistic effects were found to lead to an improved photo-generated carrier separation. Additionally, on the basis of trapping experimental results and band structure analysis, a possible photodegradation mechanism was proposed to elucidate the photocatalytic process and the reuse experiments were employed to confirm the durability and stability of the catalysts.